A Storm of Sabers
by A.P. Samuels
Summary: My Name is Ben Skywalker. I am a 24 year old Jedi Knight, and right now I am in deep poodoo.


A Storm of Sabers

by: A.P. Samuels

Authors Note: Star Wars is not owned by me nor, sadly, will it ever be.

I stand here alone against my opponent. She stands facing me, her blade casting a crimson light on her features in stark contrast to the blue of my own blade. She steps in quickly with an overhand blow that I easily block but I am forced to quickly jump back as her booted foot passes through where my sternum was just a moment ago. I know now that this isn't going to be a pleasant fight. Our sabers clashing again and again are the only sounds aside from the increasing pace our breathing. We need no words, we know each other too well for them to be of any value in this dual. Not surprisingly we are very evenly matched. She may be a bit more nimble than I am but her build gives me a definite advantage in raw striking power.

I switch to a one handed grip and whirl my saber through an intricate pattern designed to wear down her defenses. It has the added effect of focusing her concentration on my blade. Using my free hand I gather the force and push it hard into her midsection sending her flying backward. As gracefully as a Selonian she turned her momentum into a high back-flip and as she landed a second weapon was now in her off hand.

To an untrained eye in the semi-darkness the weapon appeared to be one of the fragile Sith glass bladed shikkars but I knew better. It was I who had gifted her with this particular blade made of phrik, a nearly indestructible metal capable of shrugging off lightsaber blades and planetary detonation. I had seen her effectively use a standard shikkar on an opponent before but it had left her unarmed as the blade, as it was intended, snapped cleanly off of the hilt. While her adversary on that occasion was in the throes of death he had still mustered enough will to crease her ribs with a holdout blaster. I could be called naive to have given such a weapon to this woman but at the time I was young and infatuated.

She sprang at me fiercely bring both blades from opposing angles forcing me to chose which to block with my blade but she was in for a nasty surprise as I ignited the shoto hidden in my left sleeve to deflect both attacks. Again and again the four blades met in a deadly and intricate weave of attack and defense, neither of us gaining more than a momentary advantage over one another.

As we faced each other again from a double arms length we both were assessing the damage to our opponent. Our clothes were marred in several places where saber or shikkar swipes had gotten a bit too close to their mark and I could hear her labored breathing from one of the several force blows that I had landed on her. As I assessed myself I could see that I was faring little better as the toll on muscle and bone from her too accurate kicks was beginning to slow me down. Even as we studied each other for openings we both knew the truth. This fight would be settled in our next exchange.

I decided to gamble and risk it all on one last play. Time slowed as I leapt forward. Discarding my shoto I brought my saber through an overhand arc, using the full strength of both arms and my momentum, I intended to force her hand. I could see the patterns of decision rushing through her eyes...to stab forward with the shikkar and be cleaved in two as we killed each other or to discard her secondary weapon as I had and attempt to deflect my blade with both hands.

To my utter astonishment she devised a third option. Bringing the shikkar and saber up in an X block she successfully halted my strike and planted her boot into my gut sending me flying as my weapon tumbled uselessly from my hands. I could hear her spring as my back hit the floor and she landed astride me, one hand pinning both of my arms above my head as the other held the phrik shikkar to my throat.

"All right Ves, you win. We'll paint the kriffing living room in beige." I sighed at her. "But you know it's really eerie that you keep that sith blade around and only use it when we get into arguments like this."

She leaned down and kissed me on the tip of the nose, "I always win Ben, because you love me and because deep in the recesses of your brain you know that I'm right. I also cheat. Just because I've renounced the sith and the dark side doesn't mean I've forgotten. I use the red saber and the phrik shikkar to put you off balance." She hopped off of me and began to walk away but she stopped and flashed me a sexy smile over her shoulder "If you hurry and get a sanisteam I'll show you some of the other things I remember from my sith training."

I knew I loved this woman for a reason, "Anything you say Ves.". Her eyes flashed for a second and I could see her smile turn into a sinister grin. "That's Lady Skywalker to you, Jedi."

~END~

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